News Corp. tells New York Post: Save any phone hacking information

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News Corp. has told staffers at its New York Post tabloid to ‘preserve and maintain’ any information related to phone hacking or government payoffs in exchange for scoops.

The memo comes in response to an ongoing probe in Britain about phone hacking done by News Corp.’s now-shuttered News of the World tabloid. That paper was found to have hacked into the voice mail messages of celebrities, members of the Royal Family and even victims of crime and terrorism.

‘All New York Post employees have been asked to do this in light of what has gone on in London at News of the World, and not because any recipient has done anything improper or unlawful,’ said the paper’s Editor Col Allen in a memo to his staff.

A report in Britain’s Daily Mirror charging that operatives at News Corp. newspapers there sought to hack into the voice mail messages of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States has brought scrutiny on the company. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said there is no evidence to support that claim, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the matter.

The company went on to tell its New York Post staff that ‘we understand your concerns over the protection of legitimate journalistic sources’ and that News Corp. intends to ‘protect from disclosure all legitimate and lawful journalistic sources in accordance with the law.’

-- Joe Flint